The Plan (The Father Friend Model)

Good intentions aren't a strategy. Hope is not a strategy. This episode lays out the Father Friend Model — a research-backed, Scripture-rooted framework for how a dad's role is meant to shift across four distinct seasons of his child's life. Mike walks through five essentials for understanding how the model works, then breaks down each of the four quadrants — Leader, Coach, Mentor, and Friend — showing what your child actually needs from you at each stage, and why fathering the same way at every age creates either chaos or rebellion. This is the episode that turns good intentions into an actual plan.